Eastern Conference quarterfinals
No. 7 Capitals vs. No. 2 Boston Bruins
Game 6
When: Sunday, April 22
Where: Verizon Center
Time: 3:20 p.m.
TV: NBC
Radio: WFED-1500 AM
Capitals forward Brooks Laich always talks about how simple this time of year is for an NHL player. You do whatever it takes to win a given game and then reevaluate where you stand. So the process over the last 21 hours between the Capitals’ dramatic Game 5 win in Boston and the 3:20 p.m. start for Game 6 Sunday afternoon is simple: Rest, eat, rest, eat. Hydrate. Drive to the rink. Play.
If Washington beats the Bruins it advances to the second round against either No. 5 seed Philadelphia, No. 1 New York or No. 6 New Jersey. Those are the options – provided the Flyers held on to a 4-1 lead in the third period of their game against Pittsburgh on Sunday. But, for now, there is a game to be won. As Boston coach Claude Julien said, one team is playing to advance while one just tries to survive. So what have the Caps done to frustrate the Bruins?
“Well, I think you have to look at them right now, and if you watch the game, they’ve adapted, to a certain extent, the New York Rangers’ style,” Julien said. “Like, they’re just sitting back in their own end and just blocking every shot they can. You have to give them credit for that. Where we have to be better is we have to find ways to get around that.”
You saw signs of that in recent games. Sometimes Boston’s defensemen are using shot fakes more often and driving around Washington players. Both Dennis Seidenberg and Johnny Boychuck scored during Saturday’s Game 5. The Bruins are also employing wider spacing along the blueline to open up shooting and passing lanes.
“It’s not always about the team, our team, not being good enough. It’s about realizing that the other team’s pretty good, too, and we realized that a long time ago,” Julien said. “Like I said, I don’t know if people understood that this team is way better than a seventh-place finish, and that’s what they’re trying to prove and show right now.”
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